Cellphones are an unrivalled communications device and SMS messaging is an integral part of our daily social interactions. SMS messaging allows us to instantly contact others, irrespective of the time of day, or whether they are sent to someone in the next room, another city, or even overseas.
How we communicate has fundamentally changed over the last decade due to the widespread uptake of cellphones.
Before cellphones, we had to be near a telephone or computer to communicate, nowadays we carry our cellphones with us wherever we go.
Inspiring new social behaviour
An emerging trend spurred on by cellphone use is the re-connection of inter-personal communications within our immediate or extended social networks; a return, a sociologist has proposed, to the way we used to communicate in pre-industrial times within our local community.[1]
The difference today is that our networks of friends, family and colleagues may extend globally.
Furthermore, we live in a world of increased mobility - we can travel far from home for work or leisure purposes. Nevertheless, we have the benefits of communicating via our cellphone with someone else as if they were "just next door, on the other side of the fence". In the mobile age, messaging ensures geographic distance is dead.
The use of the cellphone for messaging has brought us closer together than we ever thought possible. SMS messaging allows communications to be more frequent and informal, while still affirming the human need to feel connected to others.
SMSes are personal
One of the reasons SMS messages are so popular is SMS allows us to communicate personally and, unlike a voice call, without fully interrupting the recipient from what they are doing at the time.
In the mobile age, messaging ensures geographic distance is dead.
Dr Pieter Streicher is MD of BulkSMS.com.
Many people find they can send and receive messages while doing other tasks. Granted, there are places - like movies or theatres houses, at a funeral or wedding, or in a business meeting - where we should follow cellphone etiquette and be considerate to others by not reaching for our cellphone.
Another reason for the uptake of SMSing is that it enables us to keep in touch with far away friends and family. SMS messages are replacing voice calls as a means to tell others the latest news snippets, for example, when there is a birth or death in the family, the latest celebrity gossip, to ask for advice, or tell someone you've arrived safely at a destination when travelling.
Of course, when receiving an SMS saying "Hi, please can you call me" from your twenty-something son in London, you would not be far wrong from guessing he needs some money.
The use of SMS is also pervasive closer to home. Within our city limits, we warn people about traffic jams by sending an SMS to radio stations. We may even 'flirt' or seek a date via SMS. We use SMS to enter competitions, to subscribe to weather, surf report and financial information services. We send SMSes just to remind someone we are thinking of them, a cellular nudge or wink.
Business communication with SMS
More and more companies and schools use SMS for several functions. In each case, the business or school is able to communicate directly with the intended person.
Businesses use bulk SMS messaging to let customers know about promotions or events, or use messaging internally to confirm meetings or confirm orders when on the road. They use personalised a message notifying the client when items (such as a book) are ready for collection. School, on the other hand, lets parents know when exams are taking place, or when they can expect their son or daughter to return home with a report card.
We should continue to see a growth in the use of SMS messaging in our work and personal lives. It is a technology that is easy to use and readily accessible - this is what has made SMS messaging part and parcel of our daily social or business interactions.
[1] Hans Geser, "Towards a Sociology of the Mobile Phone" in Sociology in Switzerland of the Mobile Phone. Online Publications. Zurich, May 2004 (Release 3.0). http://socio.ch/mobile/t_geser1.pdf.
* Dr Pieter Streicher is MD of BulkSMS.com.
Share